This letter is in response to Ms. Flower's letter concerning the recommended abolishment of the 3 and 10 year bars of Section 212(a)(9)(B), if section 245(i) is not reinstated. It seems to me that the 3 and 10 year bars were implemented in 1996 as part of IIRIRA, and as such, all the poor law-breakers subject to the bars had ample time to avoid the bars by leaving before September 1997 when the penalties of the 3/10 year bar kicked in. Of course, those same individuals have been eligible for relief under Section 245(i). So, it appears that Ms. Flowers concern is for those individuals who (1) are illegally present in the U.S., (2) were unable to file a viable petition for 245(i) relief, and (3) chose voluntarily to remain in the US despite the 3 and 10 year bars. Otherwise, her sympathy is for individuals who are illegally present in the U.S. and knowingly entered the US after the 3 and 10 year bars were implemented. My sympathy still rests with the
law-abiding applicants for immigrant visas who are waiting outside the US for their visas to be issued.

M. Jacobs
Manila (where many family members wait decades to enter the US legally)